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Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Daegu-Gyeongbuk
farmers' market opens to provide fresh and high quality agricultural products
to citizens at the inline skating rink of Duryu park every Friday. The market
opens by November except the rainy season and hot wave period, from July to August.

They sell total of
almost 150 items which are all recommended by Daegu-Gyeongbuk government. Daegu
and Gyeongbuk citizens would be able to buy the great products at 20~30% off
the market price.

In addition to
this market, other ones are supposed to open at Daegu agricultural technology
center (Wednesdays) and at EXCO (weekends) respectively to help local farmers
find markets as well as to provide citizens fresh and safe local food at low
price.

Monday, April 28, 2014

Last Saturday, the meeting room in the city
hall was a beehive of activity to prepare for welcoming new blog press from
early morning. Most of the foreign press members as well as Korean blog press members
gathered. April 19 was the day to set off the official Daegu blog press 2014
and to leave for a workshop that fosters the press to be competent writer and
photographer.

The press members received certificates of
appointment from the director of public relations department of Daegu
government and learned about what they’ll do as Daegu blog press. After the
ceremony, they left for Jeolla province to participate in the workshop.

The foreign press members of Touch Daegu enjoyed
the journey while they were on the way to the workshop introducing themselves
each other at the coach and showing an interest in Doenjang(soybean paste) soup
that they had for the first time for lunch.

A lecture for blog press started soon after
the press unpacked at the K-Jirisan hotel, their lodging place. The lecture was
comprised of introduction to Daegu social media channels, tactics for better
article writings/photo takings and many other activities that blog press are to
perform. All Korean members followed the three hour lecture with earnest
attention. The foreign press members also took a separate lecture provided in
English.

On the second day, all blog press members
were immersed in practical training for photos on the basis of the previous
lecture. They took photos of the beautiful scenery of Jeolla province being
coached by the professionals accompanied.

Hope the two-day workshop would help new
blog press while performing their jobs. They are believed to fill Daegu social
media with awesome articles based on what they have learned at the workshop.

A total of 12,251 Chinese tourists (figure based on the tourist hotel accommodation record) visited Daegu during the first two months of 2014, an increase of 4,403 (56.1 percent) from the same period last year. An additional 410 Chinese tourists are expected to visit the city during the months of April and May.

In April, 63 elderly Chinese tourists and 114 tourists from Hong Kong visited Daegu and its major attractions. Fam tours, in line with the ‘Daegu Byeongbyeol Tour’ program, were also offered to inbound travel agencies catering to Chinese tourists.

In May, 35 Chinese students and 135 senior citizens from China are expected to visit Daegu. The city has also organized fam tours, for some 40 principals from Chinese schools, in line with its plan to attract some 700 tourists during the months of July and August.

The increasing number of tourists from Greater China has been attributed to the various efforts of the city to promote tourism in China. Daegu launched a task force in January 2012, with the sole responsibility of attracting higher numbers of Chinese tourists. Since then, the city has pursued a marketing strategy aimed at niche markets, rather than the ordinary package tourism market, and has set up a network of tourism planners. The city has also provided diverse incentives and developed a more diverse range of tourism products than those offer in the past.

In particular, Daegu published a guidebook kit for tourism planners, which included information on the tailored tour programs in Daegu and the incentives being offered. The city also actively carried out marketing activities aimed at 180 travel agencies that cater to group tourists from China. In addition, Daegu city officials paid several visits to those travel agencies with good performance records.

Moreover, Daegu City set up a marketing strategy geared toward tourists from Greater China, with a view to drawing 100,000 Chinese visitors by 2016. This strategy was based on the increasing interest shown by the Chinese in Korean culture, which is much indebted to the new Korean Wave and growing popularity of Korean products, as well as the heightened international status of Daegu as the host city of the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and the 2013 World Energy Congress.

In particular, the city has taken measures to ensure more convenient shopping in Daegu, enabling shops on Dongseong-ro street to accept the China UnionPay credit card and designating more shops as ‘good stores’.

Daegu City has also taken various other measures to increase the convenience of Chinese tourists. The city increased the extent of its signage in Chinese, discovered restaurants that can appeal to Chinese people and expanded the number of parking lots designated for tourist buses.

Seo Sang-u, director-general for culture and sports affairs of Daegu City, said, “We will do our best to improve the conditions for tourism and shopping in Daegu, based on the marketing strategy we have set up to attract Chinese tourists, and thus contribute to the local economy.”

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Buddha's Birthday, the
birthday of the Siddhartha Gautama,
is aholidaytraditionally
celebrated inMahayana
Buddhism. In manyeast Asiancountries,
Buddha's Birth is celebrated on the 8th day of the 4th month in theChinese lunar calendar,
and the day is an official holiday inHong Kong,Macau, and South Korea.

Legend
has it that Buddha was born to a royal Hindu family in what is now known as Nepal
andon the night he was
conceived, his mother, Queen Maya dreamed a white elephant with six white tusks
walked around her three times then hit her and disappeared into her right side.
When she became pregnant, Queen Maya set off for her father's kingdom to give
birth, as was the tradition. But Buddha was born along the journey in a garden
beneath a sal tree. The lighting of a lotus-shaped lantern in Buddhism
traditionally symbolizes a display of religious devotion to perform good deeds
and lighting up the dark parts of the world that are filled with agony.

Although
the exact date is unknown, scholars believe Buddha was born around 25 centuries
ago and in Korea his birthday is traditionally celebrated on the eighth day of
the fourth month, early May on the solar calendar, and has been a national
holiday since 1975. This year, the day will fall on May 6th. This
day is called석가탄신일(Seokgatansinil),
meaning "Buddha's birthday" or부처님오신날(Bucheonimosinnal)
meaning "the day when the Buddha came". Lotus lanterns cover entire
temples throughout the month, looking bright and beautiful against the city
scenery.

“Yoodeung,”
which means lantern lighting, is an important ritual in Buddhism that pays
respect to Buddha. According to historical records, the first
record of lighting lanterns appears during the Goryeo
(918-1392) and Joseon (1392-1910) dynasty. Like
China, the Korean Lantern Festival was initially performed with festivity
rather than with religious solemnity, and was aimed at celebrating royal
events. On the day of Buddha's birth, many temples provide free meals and tea
to all visitors. The breakfast and lunch provided are often Sanchae Bibimbap(spicy rice with mountain vegetables).

This past weekend, Daegu celebrated Yoo-deung
on the Sincheon river, invited people to come and light a lantern. Lanterns
floated through the river, casting a soft glow on the water, while large lanterns
decorated the scenery. The festivities don’t end this weekend. Be on the
lookout for the flying lantern festival, which will be held at the Duryu
baseball field.

*Application period for participating flying lantern program has been over. If you already applied for this program, please come to the bon-bu-seok(본부석) in the Duryu baseball field by 5PM and checkyour name to get a lantern.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

This past month, EXCO hosted the Baekdudaegan Green Mine exhibition - bringing together a variety of organic food sellers and businesses. The focus of the conference Baekdudaegan, a mountain range and watershed that runs through most of the length of the Korean peninsula from Baekdu mountain in the north to Jirisan in the south, is the way of using Korea's natural resources in environmentally friendly way. There were a variety of participating companies and organizations, from organic farms to wine vineyards, to juice dyeing and tea companies. The weekend was filled with vendors selling their organic products, facilities showcasing their use of green energy, along with auctions, and business accomplishments

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

With cherry blossoms lining up the streets near Duryu Park, E-world is the place to be even on a weeknight. At 5 pm, you can get the evening admission. It’s only 16,000 WON to get into the park and enjoy the rides! There are few people around, mostly couples and high school students passing the time. So if you ever need a break from the mundane work week, head down to E-world and enjoy the warm spring night!

Regular Ticket pricing:

Ticket

Adults

Youth

Children

Note

83 Plus Package

29,000원

25,000원

19,000원

E-World/83 Tower Admission + Performances +

유로지움 + Observatory + Skyway + Drink Coupon

Full Access Pass

33,000원

29,000원

24,000원

E-World/83 Tower Admission + Performances + Rides

Discounts apply to time at night on weekdays / weekends / holidays - 17:00 - discount will be applied to closing time.